


Just In Case

by byeolbit



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Prompt Reply, set in 1st half of season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 15:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6860881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byeolbit/pseuds/byeolbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A slip up during an emergency causes The Flash’s secret identity to be exposed to yet another person. Could that prove advantageous for the team?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just In Case

**Author's Note:**

> A/N – Inspired by the following prompt by the lovely super-slick-fanfic-chick (super-slick-fanfic-chick.tumblr.com). Also, the story is set in the early half of season 1 where Joe knows Barry’s identity and Iris is still unaware that he is the Flash. A two shot. Not edited.
> 
> Prompt - my prompt for you is…: where the reader first meets Barry because he saves her but he’s not wearing the flash suit so she knows who he is?

On a normal day, Barry Allen would take exactly 400 seconds at the speed of 200mph to commute to his office. However at the 293rd second his smooth run to office was interrupted by an unscheduled bump into a building across the road, causing a dent in the side of the building from the excessive momentum. Barry winced as a sharp pain shot up his head. His cell phone rang and he took a moment to fish it out of his pocket, praying that the accelerated healing would kick in soon.

“Barry, we have an emergency down town” Cisco said as soon as Barry picked up the call. “What is it and where?” Barry asked, taking a moment to steady himself. “A meta human near Central City College. From his proximity to the epicentre of the earthquake, we can assume that the meta definitely had a hand in causing it” Cisco told him. “Okay, I’m on it” Barry said. He turned on his heels and headed south towards Central City College.

Another earthquake caused him to lose his balance but he managed to roll on the ground and out of harm’s way for anyone. He got up to see a person raising their hand and slamming it into the ground causing another set of vibrations. “Okay Cisco I have visual” Barry said raising his hand to his ear only to realize his communicator wasn’t there. “Wha-” Barry faltered as he realized he didn’t have his suit on. This was already shaping up to be a brilliant day.

 

 

 

This was shaping up to be a brilliant day, Y/N grumbled. Well, at least her project report was submitted on time. So what if she would have to deal with a headache and an uneasy stomach due to sleep deprivation? She sighed and flopped on her bed. The alarm on her phone beeped. It was 8am already. Well, if she got ready in ten, maybe she could grab some warm soup from the cafe before she got to college. She also had to meet her project guide and set up a review before she began working on her research paper.  Then there were the special lectures at 10 that had compulsory attendance. That was followed by the group project meeting for whatever subject god knows now. And not to mention the three assignments due next week.

Why was college life so hard?!

Y/N spent the shower debating if she could actually afford to just quit college now. Lots of people never went to college. Lots of people stopped after a general graduate degree. She could quit now. She knew enough to get a job. Start working in a low key place. Maybe even leave Central City and be safe from the extra threats of meta human attacks. As tempting as that sounded, she did remember that she wouldn’t be free of the student loans and would probably not find a high enough paying job without this degree. So she mustered all the strength she had and walked down to the cafe, settling on bribing the last bench guys with the answers to next week’s assignments if they would form a cocoon around her and let her sleep through the special lectures.

Y/N’s thoughts were interrupted when a large rumble shook the ground beneath her. On instinct she bent down, covering her head. She looked around. The epicentre seemed to be close by. Something in the middle of the park was her best guess. This didn’t look good. She was pushed aside by a person running for cover. Damn it. Another rumble and she was on the ground. A sharp pain shot through her foot. Swelling. A sprain if not a fracture for sure. Good lord, how would she escape now?

 

 

“Cisco, I forgot my suit” Barry said, the moment Cisco picked up. “Yeah I noticed” Cisco said. “Mr Allen, it’s imperative that no one discovers your secret identity” Dr Wells said from behind Cisco. “I know. What’s our plan of attack?” Barry asked. “Well, our best bet would be to remove the meta human to somewhere secluded where you can take him on without worrying about someone seeing you” Harrison said. “I can do that. The docks are not far from here. But there are a lot of people in trouble here Dr Wells” Barry said worriedly. “We just got off the phone with Joe. Paramedics are on their way. You can concentrate on removing the meta human” Cisco replied.

Barry looked around, assessing the situation. Some of the buildings were on shaky foundations but they would be able to stand. His priority was to remove the meta human but there were people extremely close to him who would not be able to escape without help. He couldn’t safely remove the meta human without getting them out of the way either.

Barry rushed in to help the civilians in danger. He picked them off one by one and set them at a safe distance away. There was a girl, who couldn’t move. He lifted her with ease and set her aside. There was a tug on his coat before he could move and he realized she was holding onto it. “Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked. His words seemed to have shaken her from her trance. Barry nodded to himself, she seemed okay. He took off again, this time getting the meta human far from the college grounds.

 

 

 

Y/N didn’t know what to do. There had been three major earthquakes caused by the meta humans already. She couldn’t move. Not on that foot. This really wasn’t the way she wanted to die. She didn’t even get to say goodbye to her parents or the dog. She should have listened to her mother and never moved to Central City. Or she should have just listened to herself this morning in the shower and quit college altogether.

A sudden blow to her gut caused her to gasp in pain and hold onto the nearest thing she could reach. She couldn’t make out much but there was a flash of red. Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was sitting on the pavement by the side with a man next to her. She took deep breaths trying to calm the imminent panic attack. “Ma’am, are you okay?” the man asked. Y/N looked at him and found concerned eyes staring back at her. She nodded despite herself and he left her, running away at the speed of light.

Speed of light??

What?

 

 

 

“Well that took care of the meta human” Joe said as Barry entered the cortex. Barry nodded, taking the mask off. He had run in and out of the cortex a lot today. After dropping the meta human off at the docks, he had run back to the Cortex to get suited up and then back to face the meta human. Super strength had taken super effort to beat. Even Cisco didn’t laugh at that joke at the end of it. Barry dropped off the meta human to the holding cell in the pipeline and then came back to the Cortex.

“I’m just worried about someone having seen me use my powers. I’m so sorry about forgetting the suit today” Barry said worriedly. “It’s alright Barry. Cisco is currently running an algorithm across various social media sites and checking for anything that seems out of the ordinary. So far we don’t see anything alarming. We should be grateful that we came out of this with minimum casualties” Dr Wells assured him. “It’s not just that. Iris has been actively blogging about the Flash as of late. The last thing I need is for her to stumble upon someone who might have seen my face” Barry said.

“Iris reminded me of Eddie. I should get back to the station before he suspects something is up. Be careful now Barr” Joe said as he left. “I better go to. I feel really hungry” Barry said. “Sure. Get lots of glucose in. Also don’t forget our training session tomorrow at the old airport” Caitlin called out. Barry nodded before he left. He wondered if Iris would be at Jitters. Perhaps the best way to get the information would be from the horse’s mouth.

 

 

 

“I’ll have a vanilla latte with extra sugar please” Y/N said. “That’ll be two dollars and fifty eight cents. Are you sure you can walk sugar?” the cashier asked her. “I can manage. There’s no need to worry” Y/N assured her with a faint smile. She handed over the amount and the cashier gave her the change. “That doesn’t really look good. Why don’t you take a seat and we’ll get your coffee for you?” the cashier asked her. “Maybe that’s for the best” Y/N agreed. “I’ll get someone to help you. Iris!” she called out.

“Yeah, Angela?” Iris asked, looking over from the counter. “Need your help here with a customer. Can you help her over to her seat?”  Angela, the cashier asked. “Sure” Iris agreed, coming over. “I can walk mostly” Y/N protested, not wanting to be fussed over. “It’s no problem” Iris assured her. “What happened to your foot though? If you don’t mind me asking that is.” “I got caught up in the meta human attack this morning. My foot escaped with just a sprain luckily” Y/N explained as Iris helped her onto her seat.

“Are you sure that’s all? You still look really pale to me” Iris asked her. “I… had a bad panic attack” Y/N said quietly, whispering it mostly to herself.  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have probed” Iris apologised immediately. “It’s alright really. I’m alive for what it’s worth. I was saved by the Flash” Y/N said. It must have been him. That red lightning. That was what all the blogs said. Who was the man she had been holding on to? God. She felt her cheeks turn red from embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to hold on to a random stranger like that. If she ever met him she would really apologise for everything.

“Iris!” A voice called out. “Must be the coffee. I’ll get it in a second. And I am sorry but I have to ask you this. You saw the Flash?” Iris asked her. Before Y/N could answer, a man appeared next to her. “Barry! Just the person I was looking for. You won’t believe what I have found” Iris said excitedly. Y/N took a moment to study this man. He was familiar. Really familiar. Was he the man from this morning? He didn’t look like it. But he did. Was he? She remembered the mortification from a few minutes ago. If he was, he didn’t seem to recognize her and she wasn’t saying anything.

“What did you find?” this guy, Barry(?) asked Iris. “I just met someone who might have seen the Flash up close” Iris told him quietly. “What?” Barry, asked looking tense. “Yes. Now wait for me here. I’ll be right back” Iris told him. Barry watched her go with a raised eyebrow. He was worried about this. Of course it was just his luck. He looked towards the girl who was studying him quietly.

“Hello. That seems to be a bad sprain” he said guiltily, as he sat down next to her on the table. “It’s alright. Doesn’t hurt as much. The doctor says it will be fine in a week” she replied. “I’m sorry. Forgot to introduce myself. I’m Barry” he said, extending his hand. “Y/N” she replied. “So you met the Flash?” he asked her. “I think so. I just saw a blur” she said. “A red streak? That’s what most of the people say they see” Barry said, appearing nonchalant about it. “Yeah” Y/N agreed.

Y/N moved her hand and a napkin holder almost fell off the edge. Barry reacted on instinct and caught it before he had a chance to think. Y/N gasped and she looked right at him. “Y/N…” Barry said, testing the waters. “It was you in the morning, wasn’t it? You saved me from that… person. And I doubt many people have speed and red lightning” Y/N said. “You recognised me” Barry said, him panicking a little on the inside. “I thought I did. I wasn’t sure till now” Y/N admitted.

“You can’t tell anyone. Please” Barry said. “I won’t. I promise” Y/N said quickly. This was a man who had saved her life. She wouldn’t just expose his secret like that. “Thank you. It’s also really important that we don’t tell Iris” he told her in a low whisper. “Okay” Y/N said. She didn’t really know the reason why, because Iris and Barry seemed close in a manner. But if he didn’t want her to tell then she wouldn’t tell.

“I have your coffee! Oops, did I interrupt something?” Iris asked teasingly. Barry and Y/N jumped apart. “There’s nothing going on” Barry said immediately, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Iris knew that nervous tick of his and therefore immediately knew that he was lying. She raised an eyebrow but decided to leave the matter of his crush on the new girl for later.

“You wanted to ask me about the Flash?” Y/N prompted Iris. Barry looked at her in alarm. “You don’t have to talk about the incident if it’s unpleasant or something” Barry covered up. “Yeah. Really” Iris said feeling guilty as she remembered Y/N’s confession of the panic attack. “It’s alright. I’m afraid it’s not good news really. All I saw was a red streak that saved me. I don’t remember much. I shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up” Y/N apologised. Barry nodded along, pretending to be as heartbroken as Iris looked.

“Well, it’s something. A confirmed sighting of Flash in broad daylight for the first time. It gives me something to go on about for my article” Iris told her. “An article? You write for a paper?” Y/N asked. “I am hoping I get to. I write a blog about the Flash and this article is supposed to be my big break” Iris told her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help more” Y/N apologised. “That’s alright. I got to get back to work. But do you mind if we could sit down later. I could get a couple of the finer details from you for my blog?” Iris asked her hopefully. Y/N looked at Barry unsurely before saying “sure. I don’t see why not” Y/N agreed.

“Awesome. I’ll ring you up when you give Barry your number” Iris said with a teasing smile before leaving them both. “It’s not like that!” both of them said together and Iris left laughing at how couple like they already were. “She’s really convinced about it huh?” Y/N said. “About us dating? She likes to tease. She’s much vested in my love life” Barry said, taking a sip of the coffee. “I meant writing about the Flash. But yeah she seems determined about the other thing too” Y/N laughed. Barry groaned and decided to bury his shame in more coffee. He hadn’t even realized that he had ordered coffee, he thought as he looked at the cup. When he saw Y/N’s name written over it, his mouth opened to apologise. “It’s okay” Y/N laughed when she saw Barry’s face.

“I should be off. I really need to get some sleep. Pass on my number to Iris for me please?” Y/N asked him. “Sorry” Barry apologised. “Don’t even mention it. Here you go” Y/N said. She wrote her number on a page in her notebook and tore the page out, handing it to him. “Besides, I owe you one. Or many. Thank you for saving me earlier today” Y/N said sincerely. “It’s part of my job description” Barry said modestly. Y/N smiled. She waved at Angela and Iris before she left.

“Here’s your usual. Next time, try not to drink your date’s coffee” Iris said, giving him an amused look. “That was a mistake. And she’s not my date” Barry protested. “And yet she gave you her phone number. Maybe the next time you meet her, it should be a date” Iris suggested. “She gave it to me for you” Barry reminded her. “I’m very loyal to Eddie and I am sure she likes you more than me. I saw the way you two smiled at each other. Very high school of you both” she said, ignoring Barry’s protests and walking away. Barry shook his head. Iris had forgotten to take Y/N’s number. He transferred it to his phone and saved it. Just in case. Cause Iris would need it. Yeah, just in case.

 


End file.
